The Forgotten

Dead Men Should Follow Fred

My eyes open. Or rather, I can see again. My eyes remain closed. I'm looking up at the ceiling. Chaos burns around me, but I hear nothing. I can only see. I try to sit up. Instead, my line of sight moves into the desired position. I'm now gazing at my friends. I try to shout, but fail. I can only see. Ray is a launching fire like the maniac he is, and everyone else is battling him. Well, everyone but Shawn, Rolly and Cassie. Cassie's knocked out, Shawn is crying. Rolly is sobbing as well, covering his hands with his face. They're both kneeling over me- wait, what? I am looking down at my body now. This is really weird, looking at my own dead body... The rock that sent me into this ghostly state is laying a yard or so away. My head has an ugly wound on it, but it's not bleeding too much. My shirt appears to be on fire, too. Not in an inferno, just a few flames here and there. Shawn is now patting them out. Thanks, buddy.

I can tell that my death, or whatever this is, is having an effect on the battle. My friends are either crying or near tears as they fight. Not Ray, though. He's frowning, but my death-thingie obviously wasn't enough to make him too sad. Was I fighting for the wrong side? When I had a body, I truly beleived that Ray knew how to save us all. But did he really? Or was that just his story to trick me? Before I can decide, everything starts to blur. Dang it! Maybe I'm dying now. I lose my sense of up and down, my world starts to spin, and suddenly I'm in the Ultra Tech labs. What the heck? Suddenly I see myself and Shawn running down a hall.
"Wive!" Shawn yells. "I see... not inside!" Three U.T workers step into their path. Hey! I remember this. It's our escape from Ultra Tech! The past me whispers something to Shawn. In reply, Shawn faces the nerds and yells, "BAAAAAAAAAAAD!" The nerds fly backwards, and Past-Me continues running with Shawn.

Okay, this is weird. I'm going back to the escape? Why? Am I dreaming? Can you dream while you're dead? Before I can think about it, the spinning sensation comes back. I spin, spin, spin... and appear in a grassy area.
"A hill!" Shawn's voice shouts. I look around and once agin see Shawn running, this time happily and care-free. I see myself look back. I remember thinking that U.T would hear.
"A twig! The sky!" I see Shawn pick up his twig. This is where Shawn finds Fred, and we see The Hideout for the first time!
"Fred, we're gonna-"
"Fred?" Past-Wrive asks.
"Yeah, Wive. Fred the twig. Duh!" I would laugh, if I had a voice. Or a body. Wrell, that's a weird thought. I watch back, looking at my lovely living self. And Shawn! Shawn, before those terrible sicknesses hit. Allen, too. Although, he looks pretty much the same. Not sick or dead.
"Oh, Fred the twig. Right. Gotcha."
Shawn keeps talking, but sudden thoughts blot out all my other senses.
Fred. Fred. Fred. Fred. I see Ray's mouth moving in my mind.
Fred. Fred. Fred. Fred. Shawn's happy voice, just a moment ago.
Fred the twig. Fred the twig. Fred the twig. I realize that Past-Shawn is holding Fred. And right now, I realise why my spirit decided to stick around. My new life's purpose: Follow that stick.
Why, I have no clue. But it just seems important. After all, Ray said Fred when I died. I think I know why...

Soon, the world starts to spin.
"Fred doesn't like this. He says it's dark and bad. He says it's not safe." Oh, it's safe, Shawn. Other than the blade-wielding girl who's going to try and kill you. It was good seeing myself and my friends actually being safe, for once. But I can't smile. ( My body is on fire. Plus I'm dead. ) The world spins faster, and faster, and now I'm in Ray's room. What? No! I need to follow Fred!
"Relax, Wrive." Ray says calmly. Um... my past-self isn't in the room.

"If you see me right now, then you're dead. But don't worry. I have a plan." It was one of Ray's plans that got me killed in the first place!
"You probably know by now that you must follow Fred. Trust me, as odd as it is, we need that stick. And don't worry, you'll be following him again soon. I just needed you to know your mission. Now, go find that stick! And... and please trust me. I really do want to help you. Or, at least, I will." Past-Ray laughs. "Right now, I just had a vision telling me what to say. So yeah. Sorry about your death and all that." I still don't know why we need Fred, but I guess I should keep following. The world once again starts to spin. Where will I follow Fred next? The answer becomes clear as everything spins, and whirls, and... I'm in The Hideout.

"Sorry, little guy." My first view of the new scene is Tarna swishing Shawn's legs out from underneath him. Shawn tumbles to the floor and drops Fred. I ignore the fight going on around me and zoom in on Fred. As Tarna and Past-Wrive duel, Fred is kicked around a lot. He is eventually knocked away a considerable distance. There, the twig stops moving. Okay, it's in the hallway next to the Living Room. Easy peezy. I feel proud of a job well done. The world starts to spin again, and I wonder if this is the last thing I'll see. Will I just die now? Spinning, spinning, spinning... until a new scene pops up. Hoorah! I'm still alive! But... why? I see Fred, still in the same position. It's later in the evening, so everyone is probably winding down. Why am I here? Wait, wait. Someone is coming. It's... Ray! He looks around, making sure no one is looking. Why is he here? Another vision he needs to share? To my surprise, Ray picks Fred up. He then hastily walks away. I will my line of sight to follow him, and I am not disappointed. He walks to the kitchen, perhaps to get an evening snack? He walks over to the pantry, making my guess that was meant as a joke seem correct. To my even further surprise, he moves a few food items to reveal a hidden switch. Ray pulls it, but nothing seems to happen. He replaces the food, hiding the switch, and walks off again. As I follow him, questions swirl in my mind. Allen built this house, right? So why did he install a secret lever? Are there more? Has Ray had his vision yet at the time of this event? What did that lever do?

Ray heads back to his room, and there's a small rectangle of missing wall! That must be what the lever did. Ray enters through the rectangle and is now in his room. From inside, he moves a small bookshelf to reveal another hidden switch! He pulls it, and the missing rectangle of wall slowly comes back.
"Soon, I'll be whole again. And then they will no longer bother me, because they'll be long gone. And you have a part to play too, of course." Ray says. As the moon rises, it's beams hit Fred and Ray laughs.

So Shawn found Fred. Shawn dropped Fred when Tarna knocked him out. Fred was knocked into the hall. We searched for him the next day, so Ray must have taken him ( why am I referring to a twig as a him? ) the same night that we lost him. Or it. Whatever. So Fred is in Ray's room in the present? But when Ray randomly decided that we should save the universe, we were in his room. Why didn't Ray give him to me there? The world starts to spin again. Why do I even need to follow Fred? Swirling, swirling, swirling. What the heck is next? Everything blurs... and I'm still in Ray's room. Fred is sitting on a shelf. Ray is fast asleep. But his door is creaking open... and in walks Allen. Aww, come on! Now he's part of this confusing search? Allen looks around, checking for anyone who might see him. Seeing no one, he walks over to Fred and takes the twig. What?!? Why is- er, was Allen in Ray's room? If he had Fred, why didn't he give him to us? Allen walks out of the room, closes the door quietly, and creeps away. Following an inanimate object is actually proving quite difficult.

Allen walks outside for some reason. I follow him with my ghostly vision. He walks over to the Mercy River, of all places, and takes a deep breath. Is he going to jump in? I'm a bit panicky, since my vision hasn't been tested underwater. But Allen jumps in, forcing me to hope for the best as I follow. To my graet relief, the water has no effect on my vision. It's not even dark! I watch Allen as he dives, still with Fred, deeper and deeper. When will the mysteries end? Allen reaches the bottom of the river, about 20 feet down, and opens a trap door! Whaaaat? He swims through, and I follow. We're in a tunnel of some sort. A large tunnel. It could probably fit two Allens standing on top of each other. Allen can now stand up and breath, and he does. I'm confused beyond words, but Allen isn't done with his surprises.

Once he's dried himself off, he raises his knee and smashes Fred onto it! What is going on? Surprisingly, Fred doesn't break. Allen frowns and tries to bend Fred. Fred doesn't bend, either. He kicks, cuts, slashes, and even throws Fred, but Fred doesn't show any signs of breaking.
"Ugh!" Allen cries. "How can a puny twig be so strong? Oh well. He can't hold on forever!" Confusion is overwhelming me as the world begins to spin again. So Fred is in Allen's secret tunnel? The world spins, and starts to blur, and I wait for a new scene. But no. The world just dims and dims, or maybe I'm losing my ghostly vision. Either way, I see nothing but darkness. My mind is getting cloudy. It's getting hard to think. Uh oh. Maybe death finally caught me. I see nothing, and it's pushing my limits just to think. I know where Fred is, but I won't be an be able to tell anyone. But hey, it's been a good life. I escaped from U.T, met some new friends, and hey! Maybe they'll save the world without me. Yeah... yeah. Everything is okay. It's okay...

Wrive's body lays on a table. Although he isn't on fire anymore, he is still dead. But, against all odds, his mouth still forms a smile.
"That's right, Wrive. Keep smiling. You're not finished yet."